Mumbai: Chhagan Bhujbal's son, nephew seek dropping of PMLA proceedings in view of SC guidelines

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Pankaj Bhujbal and Sameer Bhujbal, the son and nephew of former Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal respectively, moved a plea before a special court here on Thursday to drop proceedings against them in a money laundering case for want of a scheduled offence.

The plea was moved following the recent guidelines by the Supreme Court specifying that a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cannot continue if there is no scheduled offence.

As per provisions of the PMLA, a prior First Information Report (scheduled offence) is a requisite for the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to initiate action against a person involved in the process or activity.

Apart from Sameer Bhujbal and Pankaj Bhujbal, four other accused in the case, Sanjay Joshi, Tanvir Shaikh, Satyen Kesarkar and Rajesh Dharap too urged the court to drop proceedings against them.

The ED complaint against the six is based on an FIR registered by the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) in connection with the construction of Maharashtra Sadan and a cheating case registered by police in the construction of a proposed residential building in Navi Mumbai.

They have been discharged in both the cases.

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The application to drop proceedings was filed through advocate Vijay Agarwal and Sudarshan Khawase before special R N Rokade.

The plea was moved as the special judge, in light of SC guidelines, has no jurisdiction to proceed further against the accused since they have been absolved of the scheduled offence, Khawase said.

Former Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal, also an accused in the case, has not been named in the plea as his discharge application in one of the ACB cases is still pending.

The court has adjourned the matter to October 7 for the ED to file its reply.

Pankaj Bhujbal, Sameer Bhujbal and Chhagan Bhujbal and 51 others were charged by Enforcement Directorate in 2016 for various offences, including the alleged Maharashtra Sadan scam.

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